The present invention relates to the testing of through-the-wall battery connectors and more particularly to a method and apparatus for testing the structural strength by applying a predetermined force to portions thereof.
Battery plates in lead storage batteries have been connected by various methods. One particularly useful method of which the inventor of the present invention is a joint inventor is disclosed in U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 753,137 filed Aug. 16, 1968 for a Battery Connector for Lead Storage Batteries and Process for Making Same. The method disclosed in that application calls for welding a through-the-wall battery connector formed of upstanding plate projections positioned on opposite sides of a cell partition of a battery. Portions of the projections are pressed into an opening in the cell partition and electrical current is applied to weld them together. The connection is then tested to determine the strength of the weld.
Prior art devices for testing the weld strength of through-the-wall battery connectors usually apply tension tending to pull apart the connectors. Often the flat projections on opposite sides of the wall are not positioned in exact alignment. Such testers typically have one set of jaws which grasps one flat projection on one side of the partition and another set of jaws for grasping the second flat projection on the other side of the wall. When tension is applied to the two flat projections, if they are not in perfect alignment, the jaws will tend to apply force unevenly and deform the cell partition. Moreover, where tension is applied, the malleable lead of the flat projections may give or distort enough to destroy the leakproof integrity of the connector even though the weld is sufficiently strong.